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The Tragedy of Jagar Tharn
The Tragedy of Jagar Tharn, also called Reign of Chaos: The Tragedy of Jagar Tharn, is a play put on by The Love Company Theater. It is an artistic interpretation of the events surrounding the Imperial Interrgerum in the Legend of Nirn universe, and is a direct parody of the events of Reign of Chaos. The Playbill Reign of Chaos: The Tragedy of Jager Tharn In the waning years of the Third Era, the bold Imperial Battlemage Jagar Tharn attempts to seize power from the dying Septim Empire and reshape the world in the way he sees fit. Using the power of the Staff of Chaos, he usurps the Ruby Throne from Uriel Septim, imprisoning Uriel in Oblivion and taking on the Emperor's visage, and scatters the Staff of Chaos throughout the Eight Provinces. As Tharn succumbs further to his power, turning from hero to villain, a rag-tag group of escaped convicts attempt to assemble the pieces of the Staff and put the Empire back in the hands of the Septims. The Main Cast Dominicus Praxedes as Imperial Battlemage Jagar Tharn Germades Romae as General Talin Warhaft I and, the Eternal Champion, Talin Warhaft II. She-Who-Can-Dance as Zaydate Uvele Adil as Nissa Gorm of Rorikstead as Uriel Septim VII and Ragnar Heljarchen Ariele Gnea as Diana Draci Tomas Jori as Zaydate's Lover, "Gabe," and Levi Draci Viktor de Wayrest as Conner "the Black Adder" La Croix Marina Edana as Juliette Tharn Remas Drodos as "Jude" Belarin Coventinia as Meracydia, "The Dark Knight" Adren Ludosi as Agatha and Heidar bin Achmed as Prince Sahir al Din "The Crimson Archer" Transcription A transcription of one showing of the play. Prelude BUM bum BUM bum BUM bum BUM bum A banner dropped from the stage balcony, reading in looping cursive lettering, 3E 389 The crowd lowered to a murmur and then to silence. The drum died. A lone woman walked out onto stage, bare feet silent on the wood. Her hair was blond, and fell to her shoulders in loose curls. She was young her face pretty, her dress simple. She smiled to the crowd and shouted; "Before we proceed any further, first, hear me speak!" Her arms opened wide, "See, that we should come to the Fall of Empire! "That the Septim line should fall, should fall upon it's last heir in due time, that the Amulet of Kings should shatter and the Ruby Throne lay vacant. "But not yet--for in this era of Chaos, the Septim line is strong, and of many heirs instead of one, and stands protected by a powerful sorcerer--the greatest sorcerer. Our Imperial Battlemage: Jagar Tharn." A man appeared on the balcony of the stage--tall, lean, handsome, with dark hair graying at the sides. Long robes enveloped him, a cape fell over one shoulder. He set a hand on the balcony railing and stood proud. There were spattered boos and cheers from the audience. Someone threw peanut shells at the stage. "And so the Wheel should turn upon our Battlemage," the woman continued, "and his contest for the throne. Thus we enter: The Reign of Chaos." The drum picked up again, and the woman spun, leaving the stage. Up on the balcony, Jagar Tharn stomped his foot, and held his hand out to the audience. "A great day has come! That we should stand on a precipice of times yet unborn, of victories yet unwon. The Emperor is weak, and with it his Empire. What would you have, you curs? That like not peace, nor war? A fragile realm managed of incompetance and impotenance? Or a strong one in an iron grasp?" Tharn flourished his robe, and from within produced a staff with a big piece of quartz painted green affixed to the end. "With this Staff of Chaos I can make the Ruby Throne mine! But, oh, such treachery! It doth not suit me! To raise my hand against my liege? There is no greater Oblivion for that! What a hero I was! What a hero I could stand to be? But the line between heroism and villainy is but a drop in the eye against the great blue sea, and none may think me better nor worse." "It must be done! For the good of the Empire! For the good of Tamriel! And may the sun rise on my Empire, a new one, not just, nor good, but safe and secured." He flourished the robes again and vanished from the balcony. Several men dressed completely in black appeared on stage, pushing set pieces in place, setting up for a prison scene. Act 1, Scene 1 The 'cells' were set up, wood-cuttouts with bars painted on them. Several actors appeared on stage, standing seperated, each next to their own cuttout. Behind stage a sad violin played. The actors stared at their feet, looking generally depressed. One of them, an Imperial woman with large sets in an angular, pretty face, framed by long blond hair, stepped from her bars, to address the audience. "Such proud people were we." Her voice carried, sharp and crisp. "Trapped now in disgrace, by a man unfit for his place. Jagar Tharn hath betrayed us! Hath betrayed the Empire! What stand he to gain from our suffering? By what right does he sit upon the Ruby Throne?" A tall Nordic man shouted out, "By what right does any?" "Aye!" The female Argonian shouted next. "What do we care of Emperors and Kings as we languish here in this prison?" "Because treachery cannot be allowed to stand." Now spoke an Imperial man, standing dead center of the prison. "The Ruby Throne must be occupied by a member of the bloodline, this is known! And though I may not live to see tomorrow, I would gladly join the fight! And when our children tell our story, they will tell the story of tonight!" "What is your name?" The Nord grumbled. "Talin Warhaft--son to the general. And I know you Ragnar Heljarchen, and you Diana Draci. Zaydate, 'Gabriel.' Fellow traitors, but ones who will be oppressed no longer! Who will stand with me? Who will raise a glass to freedom?" "Aye!" "Aye!" "And aye!" "And aye too!" "Raise a glass to freedom!" Talin bellowed, and the others joined in, shoving down the bars and marching in a single file line along the edge of the stage. "Something they can never take away! No matter what they tell you! "Raise a glass to the five of us! Tomorrow there will be more of us! "Raise a glass to freedom! To the story of tonight!" They marched offstage. Act 1, Scene 7 The play went on. The heroes, who had dubbed themselves 'The Justice Force,' set off in pursuit of the next staff piece. They fought corrupt guards, were imprisoned. There was a hilarious scene where Ragnar honked the newest character's tit, Agatha, who was played by the same person as the narrator. Or maybe Agatha was the narrator, and she was just breaking the fourth wall on occasion. It was hard to tell. In a dramatic scene where the heroes arrived in Rivenspire and found the first staff piece, they cheered. "We've found the first staff piece!" Talin held it up, holding the length of wood over his head. "Not only that, but we have made many jokes surrounding Zaydate's bi-curious personality and sexual ambiguity!" They all laughed, except for Ragnar who grunted. "We really do enjoy one another's company, and are the best of friends. There are certainly no conflicts between us whatsoever!" Diana said. "Come, we must head to Skyrim for the next piece!" Talin waved his hand. "But how?" Zaydate asked. "We lack horses." "Who needs horses when you can... walk!" He took off, trotting east. Act 2, Scene 1 Jagar Tharn reappeared on the balcony as the cast left the stage below. Although the actor was the same, he now wore the Emperor's regalia. "They say Talin Warhaft has assembled a band of miscreiants to overthrow me. Insane! Who do they think they are? Do they not see my vision? Do they not see what I have achieved? I turned a number of loyal soldiers into lizards! I'm the good guy, people. This," he held up a stabbing finger, "is going exactly as I planned. My motives are clear and prefunctory and I clearly have things well in hand. Why must it be that he who deserves greatness also deserves your hate? Your affections are a sick man's appetite, who desires most that which would increase his evil! "Those who would stand against me shall be destroyed! Crushed! There is but one true rear that may sit in the Ruby Throne!" He left the balcony, swishing his cape. A new banner dropped. 3E 390 The Justice Force entered back onto stage, props of snowy mountains pushed into place around them. "We have reached the land of Skyrim." Talin said, coming to a stop. "A place much cold, and very grim." Zaydate stated, looking about. "What do we expect to find here, if not the second staff piece?" "Look out!" Diana cried. "Birds!" On the balcony, an old woman in a dark suit with crow feathers glued to her appeared. "Caw! You will be my food!" She leap from the balcony, and wires lowered to the stage. "I have singled the six of you out for I must feed!" "Oh no!" Diana shrieked, dramatically holding her wrist to her head, swooning. "Whatever shall we do?" "We must fight this abomination!" Talin stated, drawing his wooden sword painted with metallic grey. Suddenly, from one of the side doors, another character appeared on stage, a Dunmer woman with shockingly orange hair. "Die bird!" She screamed, and whacked the crow-feathered woman with her wooden katana. "Ack!" The crow woman cried, falling over. "You have slain me! You wench! You whore!" "Your insults wash off of me, hag." The Dunmer said. "My name is Nissa--a prostitute and proud of it!" Act 2, Scene 2 "Nissa you say?" Talin stepped up to the Dunmer woman, who thrust her chest out, causing the crowd to hoot and holler. The wild hair was clearly a wig. "My name is Talin." He bowed his head. "Son of the general, fighter of freedom! You must join us!" In the background, Diana stared agape at the pair of them with dramatic, growing horror. "Shall I?" Nissa said, facing the audience, a conflicted expression on her face. "You shall!" Zaydate said. "For we fight an unbalance, unequal fight, against an oppressive liege, an oppressive tyrant! Join us, good hoe, and fight the evil that is Jagar Tharn!" "Raise a glass to freedom!" Talin cried, a refrained from earlier, and the other six of the Justice Force joined in. He began to march to the edge of the stage ,and they followed in single file. "Something they can never take away! No matter what they tell you! "Raise a glass to the seven of us! Tomorrow there will be more of us!" "Raise a glass to freedom! To the story of tonight!" Nissa hopped into line after them and cried out, "I may not live to see our glory! But I will gladly join the fight!" And then all seven together, linking arms-- "To the story of tonight!" They marched off stage, and the props were pushed off as well. Nissa reappeared on the balcony, and began to monologue. "Oh but I have my own struggles! Voices in my a head a plenty, scars on both soul and body! Who could love a wretch like me? Imperfect, unwanted! The pain!" She held her hands to her chest. Talin appeared behind her, and she turned in extreme startlement when he spoke. "You're like me." Talin said, singsong note to his voice, taking one of her hands. Below them, on the stage floor, Diana looked up at the pair, her face stricken. A budding romance between her and Talin had been building through the earlier scenes. "You strike me as a woman who has never been satisfied." Nissa turned away, shielding her face from him. "Do not look upon me, sir! You forget yourself." "You're like me." Talin refrained. "I'm never satisfied." "Is that right?" "I've never been satisfied my whole life." They laced fingers, as Diana looked on in agony, she turned to the audience and began to sing. "Love doesn't discriminate, between the sinners, and the saints. It takes, and it takes, and it takes. And we keep loving anyway. We laugh, and we cry, and we break, and we make our mistakes. And if there's a reason I'm still alive, when everyone who loves me has died, then I'm willing to wait for it." "I'm willing to wait for it!" She cried, voice carrying. This lady could sing. She pounded her chest, fell to her knees, "Wait for it, wait for it! I am the one thing in life I can contr''oooooo''l! I am an original, I am inimitable! Nissa faces an endless uphill climb! She has something to prove, she has nothing to lose! She waste no time, and she takes, and she takes, and she takes. And she keeps winning anyway... and if there's reason I'm still alive, when she seems to thrive, then I'm willing to wait! By the gods, I'm willing to wait for it!" She fell to her hands and the crowd boomed with applause. Talin and Nissa vanished from the balcony, Ragnar appeared and pulled Diana from the stage. Act 2, Scene 5 The Justice Force fought through an elaborate puzzle maze to reclaim the next staff piece. In the final room, Talin played a game of checkers against a Khajiit mummy. "We have the second staff piece!" Talin cried, as the mummy toppled out of his chair in a shower of checker's pieces. "But where is Ragnar?" Nissa said, looking around. "He has gone missing!" "Look!" Diana said, holding up a bunch of envelopes. "I found these letters!" She passed them out to those assembled, who opened them. "Oh no! Ragnar has been captured!" Talin cried. "How did that happen so quickly? He was only in that cave for a moment." "Well the legion was in area--" Gabe said. "Soldiers pull down camp very quickly--" Diana seconded. "It doesn't even logisitically make sense." Talin muttered. "Well he's super dead." Zaydate clapped her hands. "Time to go to Elyswer!" "Raise a glass to freedom!" They refrained, and marched off stage. ---- Jagar Tharn appeared on the balcony in the Emperor's garb. His make-up was done up so that he looked more haggard. "Do they not understand what I am doing? Do they not see the things I have accomplished? I'm running an Empire here, people. The beaurocracy alone is a nightmare. But hark, look now--I have captured one of the traitors!" Ragnar, locked in a pillory on wheels, was rolled onto stage. "What say you, traitor?" Jagar Tharn addressed Ragnar. "He who would raise hands against his Emperor? You call me amoral, a dangerous disgrace! If you have an issue, say it to my face!" "I won't apologize for doing what's right!" Ragnar said. "You coward!" "Careful how you proceed, good man! Intemperate indeed, good man! Answer for the accusations I lay at your feet or prepare to bleed, good man!" "Then bleed I shall!" "Then die you shall!" A man in an executioner's hood marched onto stage, carrying a wooden sword painted grey, and held it over Ragnar's head. "Nadina now be still! I killed not thee with half so good a will!" The executioner touched his sword to the back of Ragnar's neck, and he went still. Act 3, Scene 2 Agatha stepped out onto stage alone, in her role as narrator, and a new banner dropped down above her. 3E 392 "Imperial troops surround the Justice Force in Riverhold. Legionnaires and lizards both. Two Legions worth of troops surround our heroes. They entrap our heroes. Without an army, they surrounded our heroes." Talin appeared on stage, standing off to the side, leaning against one of the doorways. "When I was a boy in the Imperial City, I wished for a war, I knew that it was the only way to rise up, if they tell my story, I'll either die for my country or'' rise up'', I will fight for this land, but there's only one man who can give us a command, so we can rise up." Heavy footsteps, echoed by drum beats, sounded back stage as someone climbed up to the balcony. "Here comes the general!" Talin shouted. "You couldn't have met him yet, you haven't had the chance, because he's been kicking ass from Bravil to Kvatch!" "Ladies and gentleman!" Agatha cheered. "The moment you've all been waiting for! The pride of Taneth-- The Crim-son Arch-er!" A fit, Redguard man of excellent build and midling height exploded out onto the balcony, red cloak swishing, swords slapping against his hips. He pulled the mask from his face and threw it into the crowd to cheers. "We are out-gunned!" The drum sounded off. "Out-manned!" "Out numbered!" He swung off the side of the balcony, wires attached to his shoulders, and landed hard on the stage. "Out planned!" "We gotta make an all-out stand and, hey, I'm gonna need a right-hand man!" The drum beat intensified, and he turned to Talin. "I cannot be everywhere at once, people, I'm in dire need of assistence!" "Sir!" Talin beckoned, "You need all the help you can get, I have some friends-- Nissa, Diana, Gabriel and Zaydate." "We'll need supplies, spies, men on the inside." They linked arms, marched off stage together, "Finding these pieces won't be easy but we might just be able to let these things slide!" They marched off stage together, arms linked, to the echoes of. "Here comes the general-- rise up! Here comes the general-- rise up!" Act 4, Scene 7 Elyswer breezed by, followed by Valenwood. Talin died, came back to life, Miri and Jude joined the cast. Diana and Talin had a secret romance. "Oh, Talin!" She entwinned her hands in his hair after a dramatic musical number about escaping a sinking house or something, Baldr was starting to have trouble following. "Now that I have you all to myself, lost in a jungle, when your girlfriend and my husband think we're both dead, is the perfect time to have intercourse!" "I completely agree, and have long dreamt of this moment! Kiss me Diana! Let us give into our passions!" "Oh, Talin!" Nissa and Agatha were captured. "I'm clearly the good guy!" Jagar Tharn implored them. "All the people I've killed, all the times I've tried to murder you, it was for the greater good!" "And what is your greater good Tharn?" Nissa asked, plainly skeptical. "You haven't really done anything." "IT WAS FOR THE GREATER GOOD!" The pair of them managed to escape, or were released (it was unclear) and a reunified group met in Falinesti, where they discovered another staff piece. "Next we must head to Summerset!" "My home!" Miri said. She and Jude had the most stable relationship in the narrative so far, as the addition of yet another love triangle would've been very frustrating, Baldr throught. "Long have I dreamt of it! And am eager to return!" "Off to Summerset then!" Talin said. "Off we go!" Act 4, Scene 8 Jagar Tharn appeared on the balcony, disheveled, worn. The threads of his Emperor's garb were fraying. "How does Talin Warhaft, a bastard, orphan, whore's son, assemble so many of these staff pieces? Is his end goal just to keep me from winning? Is he such an honorable man that he need shatter my ambitions? What have I ever done for him? How am I the villain? So I imprisoned his father in the eternal fires of Oblivion? So I turned all his friends into lizards? Can't he see the why of what I'm doing? Does he not understand that only I know what is best for the Empire? O world, thy slippery turns! Friends now fast sworn, break to the bitterest enmity!" Intermission and Summary Crimson's horse turned out to be a unicorn. The White-Gold tower, where Nelthar made Talin forget Nissa existed, and it was very clear that that Celeste lady was evil from the start. There was a ball, where Conner got ripped in half by 'the Hunter,' who never showed up again. Crimson kicked Nissa out of the group after their scuffle in the tower and shipped her to Black Marsh. The Justice Force set sail for Hammerfell. Baldr had lost count of how many staff pieces they had or didn't have. Act 5, Scene 4 Crimson left the group after an epic duel with a member of his own army, nearly dying in process, and finally announcing his feelings to Juliette. At the climax of the Act, Miri and Daireg, the primary antagonist for the Act set in Hammerfell squared off in front of a painted volcano. "Beware, Meracydia, of my Edge of Death!' He wiggled his wooden sword at her, and they engaged in a fierce duel. Behind stage, the drum beat with every exchange of blows. Miri whacked Daireg in the torso, and they heard the actor mutter a low, actually pained, "Ow." And then louder. "Oh, agony! You have slain me! I have been slain! The pain! The horror! My dreams, shattered! Oh! Oh!" He fell over, sword clattering from his hand. Miri feigned to spit on him, "Little bitch." Act 7, Scene 5 The Morrowind province got a two scene regard, and it unclear what exactly was happening, seeming particularly rushed. The Justice Force next landed in Black Marsh, where Zaydate was killed, in a shocking twist, by her own father Janxi. "You stabbed Zaydate!" Talin cried, drawing his own wooden sword painted grey. "You fiend! You villain! Why? Why did you do it?" Jianxi shrugged. "Didn't really like her that much." "Cuurrsseee you!" Talin screamed and poked him in the chest with his sword. "Argh!" Jianxi cried, holding his chest. "You stabbed me!" "You stabbed my father!" Nissa shrieked. "Well, he stabbed Zaydate." "He's cut me to pieces." Jianxi wheezed, falling over. "Stained his edges on me. This boy? A false hound!" He fell flat on the stage. "Noooooo!" Nissa cried, falling to her knees beside him. "You have done a deed that will make honor weep! What have you done?!" "My rage is gone." Talin said, considering his sword. "And I am struck with sorrow. Take him up then. I will have no more of this!" He threw his sword to the stage and left, leaving Nissa crying over her dead father. Act 8, Scene 5 Jagar Tharn appeared on the balcony, as Nissa dragged Jianxi from the stage. "If only I had more time!" He pulled off the Emperor's crown, threw off the cape. "If only! My must my reign by one of chaos? Why must I be challenged? Do they not see what is in my heart? Do they not the see good I wish to do? Ungrateful ingrates! Undeserving degenerates! But had the name Talin Warhaft never poisoned my ears, but had the name Jagar Tharn never graced his! They are ants to me! Insects! My dream was one not yet realized, but ho, but ho, to realize it. If only I had more time!" From side-stage, the Justice force rushed on, Talin at the lead. Gabe had died in an earlier scene, and the audience was at the edge of the seats, expecting more cast deaths. "We have rebuilt the Staff of Chaos, Jagar Tharn!" Talin shouted up at the balcony, and lifted the staff with it's painted stone high in the air. "Rebuilt it to put an end to your Reign of Chaos with! You leech! You vampire! You will release my father! You will release the Emperor, or you will be slain!" "Ha! I would sooner eat my own testicles! Do your worst, traitor!" "So be it." Talin drew back the staff and threw it at Jagar Tharn. Held by a wire, it floated across the stage, up to the balcony, where Jagar Tharn caught it and pressed it to chest. He tumpled backwards, over the railing, and fell to the stage, lower by wires. He stared dejectedly at the ceiling. "World so cruel, is this all you had in store for me? Was I not promised more? Better death then, if this is what life makes of me." He threw the Staff aside, and lay still. Talin walked over to Tharn's body, followed by the others. "The tyrant is slain, and with him his evil. Though in this city, he hath widowed and unchilded many, let us give him a noble memory, for he once sat in thine here throne." Together, they lifted the dead Jagar Tharn, and carried him from the stage. Trivia *This "play" originally appeared in posts throughout The Legend of Nirn: Daedra Wars - Chapter V. It includes numerous references to Julius Caesar, Coriolanus, and Hamilton. Category:The Legend of Nirn Category:Books Category:The Daedra Wars